Site Mobile Navigation

Murder Charges Filed in a Car Theft Case

A 20-year-old man was charged with murder today after he reportedly stole a car and then deliberately slammed it into a highway guardrail in an effort to shake off a man who was clinging to the outside of the car, the police said.

A police spokesman, Scott O'Mara, said the man, Jack Scuilla, of Milford, was charged with larceny and murder in the death of David Gamble of Bridgeport.

Mr. O'Mara said the trouble started at about 8 A.M. in Bridgeport when a man's car was stolen as he watched from a pay phone. The man then went to a nearby public housing project and offered a cash reward for information that would get his car back, Mr. O'Mara said.

Mr. Gamble was apparently trying to recover the car at about 10 A.M. when he reached into a parked, occupied car and tried to pull the keys from the ignition. But the man in the car - reportedly Mr. Scuilla - started the car and drove off with Mr. Gamble hanging out of the passenger door, Mr. O'Mara said.

The driver then turned on to Interstate 95, where he deliberately slammed the passenger side of the car into the guardrail, Mr. O'Mara said. Mr. Gamble was killed in the collisions. The police spotted the car and arrested Mr. Scuilla in Stratford, Mr. O'Mara said. He was being held on $250,000 bond.

The police did not release the name of the man who reportedly offered the cash reward but they said he did confirm that the car was his.

We are continually improving the quality of our text archives. Please send feedback, error reports,
and suggestions to archive_feedback@nytimes.com.

A version of this article appears in print on September 25, 1989, on Page B00002 of the National edition with the headline: Murder Charges Filed in a Car Theft Case. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe